Monday, November 24, 2008

Sunday on Pilot Mountain....

If you are an Andy Griffith fan, or watched it as a kid,you will remember the town of Mayberry, RFD. Mayberry is patterned after Mt Airy, NC, where Andy Griffith grew up. The highway is even NAMED after Andy Griffith around Mt Airy!

If you remember Mayberry, you may also remember many references of trips they took to "Mount Pilot". Mount Pilot is actually Pilot Mountain in reverse, and it is a real town and mountain!

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, and so we decided to drive the 45 miles to visit Pilot Mountain. We enjoyed the vistas, did a LOT of hiking. The trails go from moderate to tough, and the stairs up and down are actually large slabs of stone. In other words, who needs a stair master??

The "Knob" of Pilot Mountain, or the "Big Pinnacle" as it is named is just breathtaking. There are trails that go all the way around the base, and we walked that yesterday. It was icy chilly in the shade, the kind that makes you want to draw your hands up inside your sleeves for warmth because you didn't think you would need your gloves! But as soon as you got around the sunny side....out came the hands, and down went the coat zipper!

After hiking around Mount Pilot, we drove to Mt Airy (AKA Mayberry) to see the downtown. Of course, like all good southern small towns, it is all closed up on a Sunday, but it was fun to see things like Floyd's Barber Shop, and Opie's Candy store! We will go back on another day when places are open. They even have an original Mayberry police car there, but we didn't stay long enough to see it.

Of course, the antique malls I wanted to visit were closed as well. Probably a good thing! Besides...I had family with me, and they would have moaned and groaned to all get out if I had made them tag along ;c)

I spent the late afternoon/evening cleaning my sewing room. Oh MAN did it need it. I dusted, arranged, re-arranged, de cluttered, EVERYTHING. I'm settling back in to being home.While I was cleaning, I caught a couple funny shots of Oscar. I have a bin on top of my file cabinet behind my desk armoir door...I guess he thought it was a small cozy place to take a nap! What a Gomer :cD (And yes, another nickname from the Andy Griffith Show!)

Would you believe that today I am MACHINE QUILTING!?? Is it like riding a bicycle? Will I have forgotten how? I have Jason & Kim's Carolina Crossroads on the machine. I want to have it done to take to Columbia with me for Thanksgiving. So funny, when I told the kids that if Charlotte (Kim's mom) did the piecing, I'd do the quilting..and she said it would take TEN YEARS. Well, the person who took the longest was ME. I guess I couldn't help being gone, but I'm sure wanting this quilt done for them.

Wow!!! Absolutely breathtaking!! I have only seen one other place where you can see the land like it goes on and on and the was on a Mountain in WV, can not remember the name of the mountain but you could see 4 states from it. When I was up there I did not want to go back down, I could have stayed on the side of that mountain forever!!!

What a great Sunday adventure! Perfect for clearing the head and invigorating as well. I remember the Andy Griffith show - I always enjoyed it. And then a lovely day in your sewing room. Sounds like life is good...Hugs Shari

Stumbled upon your site via one of my Google Alerts. My family and I live 30 minutes from the Pilot Mountain area and we visit often. We love Mount Airy and The Andy Griffith Show. You may enjoy my book about small towns in NC and The Andy Griffith Show. Visit www.insearchofmayberry.com for more info.

I've visited your website for several years and have been reading your blog for the last couple. You have to be the most generous quilter I know. Head on over to my blog, http://www.quiltinlibrarylady.blogspot.com for a little surprise.